Beckmann's pumpkin pie - it doesn't get better than this

Beckmann's sells pies at local farmers markets. The wholesale-only bakery itself is in Santa Cruz.

The pumpkin pie is perfect. The filling is smooth and the spicing is one of the best balanced that I've ever tried.. It is sweetened with honey and that is a nice touch. I always like Beckmann's buttery, flaky, pleasantly crumbly (but not too) crusts.

Beckmann's suggests heating pies for a few minutes and... wow !!! Even better.

There's a pretty crust maple leaf cut out on top of the pie

There are actually quite a few great pumpkin pies in the Bay Area - Mission Pie, Bear Claw Bakery (Pinole) and Crixa ... and in a close category ... the supurb sweet potato pie from It's All Good Bakery (Oakland & Vallejo).

These are all outstanding for my own tastes, so while I can't proclaim Beckmann's the best, it is certainly the equal of this esteemed group. I can't really make up my mind which is best since they are all so good.

The apple pie at Beckmann's is also good. Same nice crust sprinkled with sugar. The apples firm, but not too and definately not mushy. However, they use too much lemon juice to keep the apples a nice clean white color. For me, the lemon flavor (not on the ingredient list either), was just a bit stronger than I prefer.

Haven't been there in a year, but Fat Apple's is the type of place that changes much.

It is weird about the clove in the Beckmann's pie. I have the same aversion to cloves. It was the reason I mentioned the nice balance of spices in the pie because I couldn't taste it. Other spices in the mix include ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. On the other hand, Beckmann's uses a good quality cinnamon ... which has a clove taste to it to me ... that was another reason I probably wouldn't buy the apple pie again, the cinnamon had too much of a clove flavor to me.

So lucky today! I slid into the Tuesday morning farmers market in Alameda just before closing time. Exactly one rum-laced pecan pie left that had been pre-ordered but the customer didn't pick it up. $17 for one-pound large pie. Cool thing is the woman manning the booth is the same one I'd talked with at Live Oak.

I went to the Jack London Square FM Sun 11/27/11 and the guy told me he was trying to get rid of the pies & selling the small pies for $5. I got him to sell me a large pecan for $6 & near the end of the market time a large strawberry-rhubarb for $5. He said it'll keep frozen for 8 weeks. Also, at 1:30pm he was selling loaves of bread for $4, regular $6?